Paco´s Life: Madrid

California Dreaming: Death Valley and Yosemite Park

21 December 2006 5:03 PM | In California, Travel |

All Death Valley pictures here!
All Yosemite Park pictures here!

This part of the trip was based on visiting the impressive natural landscapes that this country offers. There is not much to talk about in this post, is more about enjoying the pictures. There was no important city on the way back to San Francisco from Las Vegas but, instead, there were two of the most important American natural parks: the Death Valley and the Yosemite Park. The first one is, as its name says, a big dessert with dunes and mountains where the temperature in summer can rise from a minimum 39C up to 50C. Here it is also located the lowest elevation point with respect the level of the sea of the United States.

After the Death Valley we head to the Yosemite Park, second biggest in USA after the Yellowstone and here things started to get wrong. For starting, the roads we needed for getting through the park to San Francisco were closed due to winter so we had to get around the park, spending a lot of time. We had planned to visit the Sequoia Park, where the widest trees in the world are, but when we get there a friendly park guard, dressed like a boy scout, very politely told us we could not get in without putting chains in the car´s wheels. Shit… It was too late for getting chains, we were running out of daylight so we could only see the famous trees on the Internet. Next day we found the same problem entering the Yosemite Park but this time was early so we decided to get the fucking chains, no matter what they cost, we ended up paying 60 dollars for the chains and another 20 for the park entrance. At least I carried the chains back to Stockholm with me, maybe someday I would need them. Apart from that, driving with chains is a pain, you can not go faster than 40 km/h and it sounds like the car is going to break down. And yes, the road was a little icy but not that much, I am not really sure the chains were absolutely necessary. In any case it was worth it, even though we could only visit the parts of the park which were open in winter, the thing was impressive. It is very foggy when you drive up but then when you get close to the top the sun is shinning again, showing you an amazing view: a valley enclosed between two big rocks, the Half Dome and the Gran Capitan. There are plenty of camping areas and wooden houses in the park, hiking paths, climbing… Probably a great place for spending a couple of weeks in nature. And it seems that finally we visit a place in the right time of the year, they say in summer is just too crowed to be there.

A tribute to the ICEX family

Dusk at Yosemite

About the three nights within our marvelous natural tour, no big deal, we stayed in small cities where there was absolutely nothing to see. In the Death Valley, as its name says, there is not much fun, neither accommodation offer. We had to pay big money for staying in a sort of camp located there. The place had a climate swimming pool that we didn’t dare to try and a Saloon where we were playing snooker since, apart from us, there was only the waiter. Second night we stayed in a small town called Fresno where too much Mexican food and a cold made me fail, for the first time, to Giorgos who of course wanted to go out. Third night was more fun, we got to a place called Modesto where the guy in the hotel sent us to the local bars. There was quite a few people around and we got “friends” of the barman. A funny guy, full of tatooes, who was speaking quite a while with us when the place closed down, telling us about his plans. He even gave us his email address. Believe me fellas, a night like this in the States is a funny night, at least within our 2 weeks experience there.

And this was the end of the road movie, next day Giorgos was flying back to Eruope and I would be left alone, but not in a vulgar place: San Francisco was waiting, city of bridges, hippies and bohemian life in general. The “Cisco” adventures on the next post